


Changes

by suneokmin



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - 1900s, Alternate Universe - 1910s, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Male Pregnancy, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-09 10:04:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3245576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suneokmin/pseuds/suneokmin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An arranged marriage. That was, most definitely, the last thing Grantaire wanted for his life.</p><p>Well, it wasn’t exactly arranged, you see. Four years prior, right before leaving to London, Enjolras had proposed to him and Grantaire accepted, without second thought. Now, being led into the sacristy by the priest, he wasn’t as sure about it as he knew he should or, at least, how his mother thought he should.</p><p>This was going to either give him a massive headache or be the best choice he ever made. All he had to do was wait to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The doubts and the wedding

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on the story of a Brazillian soap opera called "Lado a Lado". Many of the characters and storylines have been cut to fit the Les Mis-verse, as well the changes to some characters personalities from the soap opera to fit that of the characters of Les Mis. The story has been moved from Rio de Janeiro from 1904 to 1910 to New York in the same time period. Also, Grantaire is a lot less cynical than he really is, and actually believes there's a way to change the world. I hope you enjoy reading it.

An arranged marriage. That was, most definitely, the last thing Grantaire wanted for his life.

Well, it wasn’t exactly arranged, you see. Four years prior, right before leaving to London, Enjolras had proposed to him and Grantaire accepted, without second thought. Now, being led into the sacristy by the priest, he wasn’t as sure about it as he knew he should or, at least, how his mother thought he should.

Beside him, sat a young woman. She seemed terribly nervous, more than Grantaire. He felt sorry for her.

“By the look on the priest's face, he probably never saw two people together in the sacristy”, he said, trying to lighten the mood. The woman laughed.

“Actually, neither have I”, she let out a chuckle and eyed him. “Your suit is very pretty.”

“Your dress is far prettier.”

“Oh, it’s too simple.”

“Exactly.”

“You’re early and I’m late. You should already have your wedding ring on your finger.”

“Yeah, my groom is a little late. The priest told me.”

“Little will be the punishment I will give to Combeferre. Ferre is late but he will come.”

“Sure. He will come, definitely. And I’ll wait, no problem.”

“Thank you, but I don’t want to delay your wedding.”

“No, there’s no problem.”

“You’re not in a hurry?”, she suddenly got up. “I can barely take it anymore!"

“It seems I don’t have what you do.”

“What?”

“Assurance.”

“On the wedding?”

“Yeah. To be sure that you want to get married. That you love your fiance.”

“Oh, Ferre’s my joy, my everything. But if you’re saying that, why?”

“Because seeing you like that, so sure, so in love, only confirms to me that I… When you talked about your fiance, about...”

“Combeferre.”

“Yeah. Your face lit up, your eyes… I didn’t believe it was possible to be like that for someone.”

“But you’re going to get married like that, without loving? And him? Does he love you?”

“I think so. We’ve been away for a long time. He spent four years studying in London. Always sent gifts. Only a few letters, but many gifts.”

“Maybe he’ll enchant you in the same manner my Ferre did”, she walked towards the bench once more. “Oh, I don’t understand why he’s so late. Oh, Ferre. Do you you think anything happened?”

Grantaire only smiled at her, shaking his head.

****x **x** **x** **  
**

“In the middle of all of this, we forgot to introduce ourselves. I’m Éponine”, she extended her hand towards him, who shaked it sincerely.

“Nice to meet you Éponine, I’m Grantaire.”

“Right now I swear, I wish I could switch places with you.”

Grantaire shook his head at her. “Don’t talk like that, you love your fiance.”

“But that’s why I’m like this, so distressed.”

Right then, the priest came in. “The groom is here.”

Both of them got up, Éponine with a big smile on her face. “Combeferre is here?”

“Unfortunately, Éponine…”, the priest was cut mid sentence by Grantaire’s mother, who came barging through the door.

“Grantaire, Enjolras is here. He’s in his parents carriage and I asked them to wait a bit so we could finish tidying up the church”, it was only then that she seemed to notice Éponine, who stood right beside her son. “Oh, you’re still here! Priest, your act of charity petered out. Only served to fill this church with such scum that is delaying my wedding!”

“Grantaire’s wedding, you mean, right, Misses?”

“The ease with which you offend people is impressive”, said Éponine, raising her head to look her in the eye. “To what serves being so haughty and so trite?”

“To what serves being so cocky and such a poor thing?”

“Mom! We can wait some more.”

“No, we can’t.”

“Unfortunately, Éponine”, said the priest. “But if Combeferre arrives, I mean, when he arrives, then we can…”

“I…” she swallowed down a sob “understand.”

Both Grantaire’s mother and the priest left the sacristy and, turning around, Grantaire could only stare at the woman he now considered a friend holding back tears threatening to spill, feeling like he would start to cry himself.

**x **x** **x** **

“I will talk to the priest, he will understand.”

“No”, Éponine raised her hand. “No, Grantaire. I’m the one that needs to understand what’s going on. There’s no way to fix it, anyway. It’s over”, she sat back down on the bench. Grantaire sat beside her, holding onto her arm. She cried openly now. “We met on the worst day of my life, but it was very nice to meet you.”

Grantaire let out a small smile, holding back tears. “I feel the same way, my… friend?” Éponine smiled. “How ironic, hum? You, that wanted so bad to get married, and I, that have so many doubts, I… I that don’t want to.”

“Yeah. It was going to be happiness to me and sadness to you.”

“Yeah. But what if it’s better for you to not get married now? You’re going to have time to do other things, so many things you…”

“What? Which things? Everything I dreamed of, everything I planned in my life had Ferre in it.”

“You’re going to find out.”

The priest came in and, standing behind a cabinet overheard the two. “And what about you? Maybe it’s better if you don’t get married either.”

“No, my situation is different. Marriage doesn’t go with what I want.”

“You say that with such confidence.”

“Because I know. It’s not marriage that’s going to make me happy.”

“Be it in the marriage or in whatever else, I hope you find what will make you happy.”

“You too, Éponine”, both of them leaned in for a hug, tears coming down from the eyes of both. Éponine noticed the priest coming up to them and quickly got up.

“Blessing, priest.”

“God bless you, my child”, Éponine walked away, and Grantaire stared after her. “Grantaire, the church is almost ready for your wedding. Are you ready?”

“No.”

“Then get ready, because I’ll come back soon to pick you up”, he walked away mumbling a preach in Latin under his breath.

Outside of the sacristy, Éponine stood frozen on the altar, seeing that none of her guests were in the church anymore, having been kicked out by Grantaire’s mother. From the entryway, Montparnasse, Grantaire’s adopted brother, could see her, and remembered the first time he had done so, during the Fourth of July. Behind him, came up his cousin, Cosette, who grasped him by the arm, asking what he was doing, standing like an idiot, to which he didn’t respond.

Grantaire’s mother came up to Éponine on the altar. “So, my child, if you want to go, walk right out that door. You already bothered me enough for today.” Éponine wiped away her tears and walked down the aisle towards the front door, being eyed down by the guests to Grantaire’s wedding.

**x **x** **x** **

“No, Courfeyrac, listen”, said Enjolras, exasperated. “The other groom had his doubts. He didn’t want to get married and he didn’t get married. What am I doing here?”

“No, it’s late. Your father will tear off your skin and make a rug out of it. All of the guests are here, Grantaire is ready, waiting for you.”

“Grantaire is a clever man, Courf. He might as well not want to get married if he knows his fiance is not in love with him.”

From afar, the priest heard Enjolras and said to himself, “By God, two weddings cancelled on the same day. This way my church won't be able to take it.”

“Don’t do this Enjolras.”

“I’ve already said it Courf. I need to tell him how I feel, it’s the truth. It’s the worst timing ever, I know, but it’s the truth.” Enjolras went off into the church, with Courfeyrac hot on his heels, calling out for him.

That’s when Enjolras saw Éponine.

She cried nearly a river by second and when her father called out to her, she enveloped herself in his arms, asking to take her home. They walked away from the church.

“Isn’t she the other bride?”, asked Courfeyrac.

“Yes, the groom didn’t… the groom didn’t show up.”

**x **x** **x** **

The wedding march was heard and all the guests stood up. Enjolras stood at the altar, looking anywhere but at the brunet man that was walking down the aisle, holding onto the arm of his own father.

The rest of the wedding went in a blur for both of them, always refusing to meet the other’s gaze. They exchanged their vows with uncertainty, but once they were declared married, only Courfeyrac saw Enjolras small smile.

**x **x** **x** **

A huge tent was set up on the gardens of the Grantaire family mansion, and the guests were chatting with each other on large round tables.

“Oh, Enjolras, not even I have enough nerve to discuss politics today. After all, we are at a party”, Enjolras let a out a grumble. “Try to have some fun. Or are you strained about the wedding night?” Both of them laughed.

“Mister Enjolras” said one of the maids, “they are calling you to take a picture with the wedding cake.”

“That was all that was missing, taking a picture with the wedding cake. Courf, let’s go.”

**x **x** **x** **

“What about this picture? Where’s Grantaire?”

“My friend, is about time you calm down. You put me in a panicking situation this morning, I thought you were going to give up on this wedding.”

“You saw that lady that was abandoned on the altar. I had never seen such sadness. I didn’t want to be responsible for seeing that expression on Grantaire’s face.”

Their talk was cut short by the arrival of Grantaire with Cosette. When both turned around, they were smiling at each other. The picture was taken.

“Sir, please, take another one, they weren’t posing”, said a smiley Cosette

And so, arm in arm, they took another picture, but the smiles from the first one weren’t there anymore.

**x **x** **x** **

Enjolras helped Grantaire come out of the carriage as they arrive at their new house.

After Jehan’s comments about how it’s sad they won’t have a honeymoon, Enjolras’ father comes down the stairs and hands him a key. “My gift.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

“All of the trousseau I’ve made for Grantaire through the years is at your service inside the house. Be happy.”

“Thank you, Mom”, the smile on Grantaire’s face was obviously fake, but his mother didn’t seem to notice, as it was as fake as her own.

The newlyweds went up the stairs to front door and, after Enjolras unlocked it and held it open for him, when Grantaire gave his first step into his new house, he knew things would never be the same again.


	2. The revelations and the situation

Grantaire stepped into the living room of his new home, Enjolras trailing not far behind him. The brunet turned around to face his now husband, who stood across the room from him.

“I can barely believe it”, said Enjolras. “After so long apart, here we are.”

Grantaire lowered his head and glanced around the room. “Have you seen the presents?”

“Quite a lot, hum?” Enjolras let out a slightly forced chuckle.

So did Grantaire. “Yeah, it will take some time to open it all, put it in place…”

“Well, we don’t have to do it now. I imagine you must be very tired.”

“Yeah, it was a hard day.”

“I agree”, he walked towards the stairs. “Where’s the bedroom?”

“Which bedroom?”

“Our bedroom.”

“You haven’t been to the house before?”

“My father bought it.”

“Yes, it was a gift from him, but from what your mother told me, it seemed you were the one who had chosen it.”

“I was in London, so…”

“When you arrived at New York, didn’t felt like seeing the house you were going to live in?”

Enjolras changed the subject quickly, “I imagine my bags might be in the bedroom, I’ll change clothes, take a shower. Excuse me.”

“It’s in the end of hallway.”

“Thank you”, Enjolras was halfway through the stairs when he stopped and turned around. “You coming?”

“In a bit.”

“Excuse me.”

And Grantaire was left to his own thoughts in the living room.

**xxx**

Grantaire entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him. After a moment’s thought, he locked it and walked towards the bed, sitting on its edge and staring down at his tousseau. The memories of Enjolras’ proposal and their wedding played through his head, only making the certainty that he couldn’t consummate it grown. Barely did he know that in the bathroom next door, Enjolras thought the same.

**xxx**

Sitting at his dressing table, Grantaire heard a knock on the door and walked up to it so he could unlock it. He stepped away from it. “Come in.”

Enjolras walked in and stared at him, noticing his uneasiness. “Is everything alright? You seem nervous.”

“No, it’s just… tiredness from the wedding.”

“I imagine. I must have been really tiring for you. I think it’s better if I sleep in the guest room tonight. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course. ‘Till tomorrow.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight”, and even having said so, they continued to stare at each other for a long while.

Once Enjolras left, he stood by the door of the main bedroom, staring down at his wedding ring and wondering for how long things would be this awkward between him and his own husband.

**xxx**

The newly weds sat at the dinner table, eating breakfast in an uncomfortable silence.

Enjolras was the first to try to break it. “It’s pretty, the decoration.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, of course, sure. For an example,” he glanced around the room, “that bust. Ah, hum, it’s…”

“Horrible”, Grantaire let out a chuckle.

Enjolras laughed at that. “It’s horrible.”

“A gift from my mother.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“No problem. By the way, it was my mother who decorated the entire house. From the cutlery to the chandelier, like she likes to say.”

“The entire house?” Grantaire nodded. “Wow. Since there’s no problem in complaining, I’ll do it”, Grantaire laughed. “This curtain; it’s abominable. If you stare at it too much, it will give you nightmares. That chandelier in the living room; it has so many crystals it could fall at someone’s head at any second. And have you seen the rug from upstairs? You step on it and it engulfs you”, they laughed together at that, but the awkwardness was back quickly. Enjolras glanced at Grantaire. “You didn’t choose anything for the house? Not even, not even that cup?”

“Why did you never want to come here? In the house you were going to live in?”

“You never answer, just ask.”

“You just ask, never answer.”

Enjolras laughed. “I have a full day in the office, I’ll spent it there. Excuse me”, he got up, snatching his jacket from the back of his chair, and left Grantaire alone once more.

**xxx**

Grantaire quickly got up from where he was sitting on the couch, holding one of the many wedding presents, when Enjolras arrived from work.

“Everything alright at the office?”

“As alright as it could. You haven’t opened any of the gifts yet? Do you want to?”

“No, later.”

Enjolras pointed to the gift on the couch. “This one is asking to be opened.”

The sat back down and Grantaire read the card attached to the box. “Oh, it’s from my grandmother, she couldn’t come to the wedding.”

“Yes, what a pity”, he watched as Grantaire unmade the bow and helped him open the box. Once the brunet had seen what was inside it, he looked at Enjolras, who let out a laugh. “Oh, it’s a double sheet. The embroidery is pretty.”

“Yes, it’s well done.”

“Do you want to open another one? Take this one”, he handed another box to Grantaire, who opened it and smiled, showing the contents of the box: handkerchiefs.

“They look like the ones you’ve sent me from London.”

“No, I’ve never sent you handkerchiefs from London.”

“Yes, you did, Enjolras. They look a lot like these ones.”

“No, if I had sent, I would remember it.”

“What about the other gifts? The clock, the necklace, the perfumes… Wasn’t it you who sent them?”

“Grantaire, I didn’t bought you any of those things in London.”

“No?”, the brunet got up. “Enjolras, you’re being rude.”

“Wait, Grantaire, I’m sorry, but I’m saying the truth. Why would I deny it if I had bought them?”

“Why would I say I received them if I hadn’t?”

“Grantaire, I’ve never entered a store and bought perfumes, clock, necklace, handkerchiefs for you. If I had, I would tell, but I never did, I’ve never thought about doing it.”

“Enjolras, we were engaged. May I know why you never thought of giving me gifts?”

“Grantaire, I rather not answer, to not be rude like you’ve already said.”

“You’ve already been, Enjolras. You can be again, because right I’d prefer abruptness.”

Enjolras rolled his wedding ring on his finger. “I don’t want to upset you, but the truth is that I think we should have know each other better before we got married, to see if that’s what we really wanted.”

“You didn’t want to get married?”

“You gave me a direct question so I’ll give you a direct answer: no, I think our wedding was precipitated.”

“Then why didn’t you say so?” Grantaire was truly exasperated now.

“I tried, Grantaire, I tried so many times to tell you that!”

“Enjolras, do you have any idea…”

“Those poems you’ve sent me…”

“Which poems?”

“William Wordsworth, Lord Byron. You were clearly in love.”

“Romanticists? I would never sent romantic poems, not to you and not to anyone”, realization dawned upon Grantaire’s face. “It was my mother.”

“I can’t believe it.”

“It was my mother, and your too, with the gifts. Enjolras, I also think this marriage was precipitated, I also didn’t want to get married.”

“I can’t believe it. I could have stayed longer in London, I wouldn’t need to come back to New York in a hurry.”

“I could have kept on studying.”

“I  had a life there, a career I can not have here.”

“You weren’t the only one that abandoned their plans, Enjolras.”

“Grantaire, I’m talking of work.”

“So am I, Enjolras”, Grantaire screamed. “You think what? I studied to work, not to be stuck inside a house, choosing the menu for dinner and knitting a scarf for my husband. Do you have any idea of what this marriage means to me?”

“No, I don’t. If had, I swear, I wouldn’t have entered that church. For a moment, for a moment...” Enjolras let out a grunt. “When that other wedding was canceled, I was going to talk to you.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“Because I saw the other bride, the abandoned bride.”

“Éponine?”

“Yeah, I don’t know, I don’t know her name, but that broke my heart, I felt so sorry for her and…”

“You married me out of pity?”

“No, of course not! Grantaire, look, you didn’t tell me anything either. To me, you loved me, you wanted to get married.”

“No, this marriage was a mistake.”

“I never regretted something so much in my life”, Enjolras left, banging the door after him, making tears spring into Grantaire’s eyes.

**xxx**

Enjolras opened his eyes and, for a moment, forgot where he was. He took in his surroundings but it was Courfeyrac’s voice that made him remember he had slept on his friend’s couch.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Want some coffee?”

Enjolras straightened up at the mention of the beverage. “For the love of everything holy.”

“Counted a lot of lose springs on my couch?”

“Three or four.”

Courfeyrac laughed. “I’m sorry, Enjolras, I’m sorry I can’t give you more comfort, but you know that an opposition newspaper is not exactly a good source of income.”

“Courf, I wasn’t searching for comfort when came here.”

“Well, last night you seemed more interested in the wine than in the conversation. But you will have to explain to me why a guy who just married a beautiful man prefers to spend the night on a couch with lose springs.”

“I was precipitated. A lot. Me and Grantaire don’t love each other, barely know each other.”

“Few couples marry out of love. Was it your parents that…?”

“No, no. If it had been solely from the pressure from my father, or from her parents, I would have canceled that wedding from where I was, back in London. But I thought Grantaire loved me, Courf, I thought that I would destroy his life if I canceled this wedding. So I thought that the most noble thing I could do was sacrifice myself for him.”

“The most Christian thing, you mean, right?”

“Yeah. All of this only to find out that Grantaire didn’t want to get married either.”

**xxx**

Grantaire was sitting on the couch, reading a book, when Enjolras opened the door. They locked gazes for instant, but looked away quickly. The tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

“Hello, Grantaire.”

“I took the liberty to borrow one of your books. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, there’s no problem”, Enjolras sat down. “Grantaire, last night I didn’t sleep at home because…”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me, Enjolras.”

“I disagree. We live under the same roof. And, after all, we are… I slept at a friend’s house. I was terribly shaken by everything that happened, I had to take some air.”

“I understand. So did I”, he got up from the couch. “Lunch is ready, ask Marie for it. Our maid.”

“You won’t have lunch?”

“Later, I’m not hungry”, he walked away, but turned back around. “I only borrowed your book because I couldn’t bring mine.”

“There’s no problem, I already said so”, and Enjolras stared at Grantaire’s back as he went up the stairs.

**xxx**

A few hours later, a similar scene would be seen: Grantaire reading on the couch, after his friend Musichetta had come to have dinner with him, and Enjolras coming back home from dinner with Courfeyrac.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

“Sleepless?”

“I can’t stop reading this book! It’s fascinating!”

“‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’. It’s really great”, there was a moment’s silence. “I’m going to sleep.”

“Alright. You already know the way to the guest room.”

Enjolras gave him a fake smile. “Right, of course”, and walked up the stairs, leaving an unbothered Grantaire behind.

**xxx**

The following day, both of their families went to have lunch at their house. When both left the study after Montparnasse’s departure, their parents were chatting in the living room.

“A law that forbids walking around shirtless and barefooted? That’s a brilliant idea”, said Enjolras’ mother.

“My husband is a man that thinks about the new times”, replied Grantaire’s mother.

“The mayor will love your suggestion”, said Enjolras’ father.

“Well, people should walk on the streets only decently dressed, and not in the way they do nowadays”, answered Grantaire’s father, a smug look on his face.

“I’m sorry, but many of the people who walks around shirtless and barefooted is not doing it because they want to, but because they don’t have money to buy food, much less clothes”, said an exasperated Grantaire.

“Grantaire’s right. They were thrown into the streets. The government left no alternative to these people besides misery”, Enjolras, who stood beside his husband, said.

“They are illiterated, Enjolras. Don’t have qualification for any decent job, do you understand?”, said his father, once more showing his hatred towards the poor. “What could the government do for them, anyway?”

“Qualificate them”, speaking the words at the same time made them look at each other in shock, not even listening to the rest of the conversation between their parents.

**xxx**

“By God, I can’t take another one of these lunches”, said Grantaire after the visitors had left.

“Only now I’ve noticed, the pressure is really bigger over you.”

“Thank you for comprehending.”

“After everything I’ve heard today, it’s the least I can do. Excuse me.”

Enjolras was about to leave when Grantaire called out to him. “Enjolras. I know we have our differences but, we are under the same roof everyday. It’s true we don’t love each other but, we don’t need to hate each other either.”

“Grantaire”, Enjolras sighed. “I’ve never hated you. The truth is that everything happened too fast. We barely dated, and I proposed to you right before leaving.”

“I was so surprised, I accepted like that, without thinking. I mean…”

“No, you’re right”, they laughed. “You’re absolutely right. We spent years apart and then suddenly… suddenly that Enjolras from the proposal doesn’t exist anymore. ”

“Yeah, I’m also no longer that Grantaire that accepted a proposal without considering…”

“Without considering what?”

“So many things, without considering who’s the husband; if he would understand, support what I like, what I want to do. Enjolras, you studied there and I studied here to become a teacher.”

Enjolras smiled. “I didn’t know.”

“There are many things we don’t know about the other.”

“Grantaire, I may not be the husband of your dreams, but I promise never to disrespect or hurt you. And since we don’t feel like we are really marrie, I don’t think it’s fair to expect from you the behavior of an Omega husband.”

“No, neither me from you that of an Alpha one.”

“No, I meant that…”

“I know what you meant. At least between us we don’t have to keep up pretending. Alright, we are not husband and husband but, maybe we can be good friends?”

Enjolras smiled at him, and Grantaire smiled back. That was just the start.


	3. The gifts and the discovery

Friends. For four years, Grantaire didn’t thought for a second that he would be so comfortable being friends with his own husband. He was standing in Enjolras’ study, searching through the books, when the blond entered, exchanging warm smiles, so different from their previous ones, with him.

“You own everything by John Keats!”

“Brought it from London”, Enjolras seemed hesitant when he spoke again. ”I said earlier today that you couldn’t bring your books here. Why?”

“Oh, you don’t really want to know.”

The blond laughed playfully. “Yes, I do.”

“My mother, she considers reading a hobby.”

“And it is, a great one.”

“For single Omegas.”

“Oh.”

“Never for the married ones. On the wedding day she donated my books to the library.”

“So that means you won a husband and lost your books? I’m not sure if it was a fair trade”, Grantaire smiled. “I’m  sorry.”

“My mother, most mothers, think those two are incompatible.”

“To which library they were donated?”

“To the brand new 125th Street Library.”

Grantaire held up the book in his hands, as in a manner of asking for it, but Enjolras shook his head. “Don’t ask to borrow it, Grantaire; it’s yours.”

The brunet smiled fondly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Grantaire felt the awkwardness between them. “It’s late, I’m going to my bedroom. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, see you tomorrow”, as Grantaire left, he missed his fond smiled being returned by his husband.

**xxx**

The following evening, Enjolras went to 125th Street Library. “Excuse me”, he said to one of the women that worked there. “Good morning. You’re not one of Grantaire’s friends?”

“I’m Musichetta, one of Grantaire’s colleagues from school. How are you?”

“I’m fine thanks. I didn’t know you worked here.”

“I’m a librarian.”

“That’s great. I wanted to know which books Grantaire donated to the library, near the wedding. It was a good number.”

“Yes, I have all the donations registered, but I’ll have to take a look in the archive, it’ll take a few days.”

“No problem.”

“And how is Grantaire? I miss him so much. The students too.”

“Students?”

“Yes, he worked here as a volunteer, naturally couldn’t continue after married.”

“Why not? Was it Grantaire who decided that?”

“No, they thought it wasn’t appropriated.”

“I can already imagine who came to that conclusion, and it wasn’t Grantaire”

**xxx**

A few days later, Enjolras came home followed by men carrying huge trunks. One of them went to the study, while the other was told to put the trunk on the coffee table. After tipped, the two men left.

“What’s in the trunks?”, Grantaire asked. Enjolras opened the one on top of the table and his husband let out a half-shriek of excitement. “Books!”

“Look at the titles.”

“I had these titles!”

“They are the same your mother donated to the library.”

Grantaire was surprised by that. “You bought them for me?”

“I thought it was unfair for you to have a husband and not your books.”

“Thank you!”, he went on his tiptoes to kiss Enjolras’ cheek, leaving him as surprised as Grantaire at the action. They grinned like two idiots at each other, too stunned to do anything else.

**xxx**

The couple sat at their dinner table, eating, with Marie off to the side.

“Just imagine your mother’s face when she finds out that your books are back.”

They laughed together. “We have to be careful. One moment’s distraction and she’ll send it all back to the library. Marie, the food is wonderful!”

“Really good.”

Marie seemed confused. “Thank you, it’s the same spice as ever.”

“No, today it’s different, special!”

Marie understood why when she saw their matching grins they tried and failed to hide from each other.

**xxx**

They walked through the library until Enjolras motioned for them to turn left instead of right, like Grantaire thought they would. “That’s not the way to the reading room, Enjolras.”

“I know”, this only confused the brunet even more. Then he saw his students and Musichetta in the classroom, clapping for him, and looked at his husband. “Your students are waiting for you”, Enjolras watched as Grantaire hugged everyone, the happiest smile he had ever seen laying on his husband’s face. “Everybody missed you.”

“Enjolras, it’s the second time I tell you this today: thank you.”

“Enjolras asked me for the list of books you donated, I mean, that your mother donated”, said a cheery Musichetta.

“He went to the bookshop and bought them all!”

“And now he does this with the students. What a husband, hum?”

They smiled awkwardly, suddenly tense after Musichetta’s comment. “But she has some blame in it too. She was the one who assembled everybody.”

“Oh, Musichetta, thank you, but… won’t that put you in trouble?”

“Oh, Grantaire, we can talk about that later, the students are so happy to see you!”

“Well, everybody wanted to ask him something, right?”, said Enjolras.

“Will Grantaire teach us again?”, asked one of the students.

“You’re asking me this?”, Enjolras motioned to his husband. “He’s the one that has to decide so.”

“Of course I will! If I could, I would start right now, but I agreed to go have dinner with my… with… with my husband. But tomorrow we’ll begin.”

There was a round of applause for Grantaire, and even Enjolras clapped for him.

**xxx**

Sitting at the dinner table in a fancy restaurant, the couple was chatting animatedly.

“Me and my student were nearly kissing when Jehan fainted.”

Enjolras laughed. “I can’t believe I missed that.”

“My mother wanted to kill me. Said that no husband in the world would accept that! It’s strange to be talking about that to you.”

“Why?”

“Because… you’re my husband”, they laughed once more. “I also never imagined I could talk about my plans of maybe owning a school someday. My mother always said no husband would accept their Omega to work, to study.”

“Times have changed, and husbands, at least a few of them, did the same.”

Grantaire smiled fondly at him. “Now it’s your turn. Tell me a bit about London.”

Enjolras laughed in slightly forced manner. “There’s not much to talk about. It was a good period, that ended.”

“Tell me about your days there. Did you, beside the university, go to the restaurants, the theaters?”

“Yes, when study permitted. But it wasn’t frequently.”

“And the museums…?”

“How about we finish it with some Port wine? Most people drink it in the evening, but I like to have it as dessert.”

Grantaire was confused by the sudden change in topic, but agreed.

“But what about you?”, Enjolras insisted. “Tell me about you, about your plans to own a school.

“Yes, of course.”

Their glasses of wine arrived and Enjolras lifted his. “A toast, to your school, to the future.”

“To the future.”

**xxx**

“I want my students to like reading”, Grantaire said as they ate breakfast the following morning. “That’s the reason for the plays, the tales, the newspapers”, their maid went to serve them. “No, Marie, Enjolras likes his coffee black.”

“It’s Grantaire who likes it with milk, but just a bit”, as Marie brought their toasts, Enjolras passed his to Grantaire. “Here, R, you like them more toasted.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m not going to forget you like your toasts more toasted, a little bit of milk in your coffee and that Doctor Enjolras likes it black.”

“Earned this habit in London.”

“Yesterday we ended up not talking about your life there.”

“Because your life here is much more interesting.”

“Why?”

“As an example: have you imagined your mother’s reaction when she finds out you’re teaching again?”

“Don’t even want to think about that”, but Grantaire was suspicious anyway.

**xxx**

“Good morning, Enjolras.”

Enjolras quickly drapped his newspaper and got up to greet his mother-in-law. “Good morning, misses Grantaire, Cosette. I didn’t knew you were coming.”

“Didn’t knew because I didn’t warn you. I love surprises”, their laughter was obviously fake. “And I have great news for my son.”

Said son was walking down the stairs at that exact moment. “Enjolras, I’m leaving. Today I’m reading a tale for the…”

“Where are you going, my son? Where do you think you are going with those books?”

“Misses Grantaire, these books are…”

“Mine. These books are mine. Enjolras gave them to me as a gift.”

“What? No, I bet that you… Enjolras, I understand you want to please Grantaire but, if a husband gives everything their Omega wants, ends up not wanting anything.”

“No need to worry, misses Grantaire. But you said you had news for Grantaire.”

“Yes, I do. Wonderful news. Tell them, Cosette.”

“It’s that, your mother elected us ambassadors of the Society of Omegas for Morality.”

“Ambassadors of what?”

“You’re going to coordinate the movement for the society of New York City. Will start reuniting volunteers to police the morals, denounce the men that walk around shirtless, barefooted and that spit on the ground and that sort of thing.”

Grantaire caught the pamphlet his mother handled him. “Hum, Cosette, you... you’re going to participate on that? You want to?”

“I…”

“Of course, of course she wants to, she’ll do it. It’s an honor.”

“But I don’t want to, and I won’t go. You know really well what I think about that.”

“But you can conciliate it with taking care of the house, with Enjolras’ needs…”

“You don’t hear and say what you want! Excuse me, but I was leaving. You know to where? To the library. Wasn’t that what you asked when you saw me with the books? Alright then, it’s answered.”

“Can I have a talk with you before?”, Grantaire lead his mother to the study. “What were you thinking, challenging me like that, in front of your husband?”

“It’s you that challenges me all the time in front of everyone! Haven’t I already told to stop meddling with my life?”

“Yes, you did, and can keep doing for how long you want, because I’ll meddle, I’ll interfere in whatever is needed. Me and your father invested everything in your wedding, everything! We no longer own the things we used to, we are in an awful situation, and your father had to sell lots to pay for your wedding.

“I didn’t know.”

“A marriage is to last a lifetime, and you’ve already began to destroy it in weeks.”

“I’m not destroying anything, Mom. Calm down.”

“Do you think Enjolras will accept these classes? Because I know you’re going to the library for that. But does he know what you’re going to do there, that you want to make a routine out of that? Oh, Enjolras can gift you with books, but he won’t accept an Omega that goes out all the time, that lives thinking away and out of the house.”

“Excuse me, misses Grantaire. R, it’s better if we go, your students must be waiting for you. I’ll leave you at the library”, he put extra emphasis on the last word, stunning his mother-in-law. Grantaire was surprised by how proud he felt.

**xxx**

“Cosette, it doesn’t work if you tell me one thing and my mother another”, Grantaire told his cousin as they entered his house.

“I don’t want to be ambassador of anything. They caught me by surprise, I was reactionless.”

“React later, but react. Haven’t you seen? My mother thought Enjolras wouldn’t let me teach.”

“Enjolras is a golden man, Grantaire. I’ve seen the way he stood by you. And he didn’t face my aunt only out of respect.”

“He has surprised me, Cosette. I didn’t expect him to be so… so… this way that he is, you’ve seen it, I… I’ve never met a man like that, Cosette! Not even the Enjolras that I met before was like this. I just think it’s strange that he doesn’t talk about London, he always changes the subject.”

“Mister Grantaire, could you come to Doctor Enjolras room for a second?”, Grantaire followed after Marie up the stairs. “Mister Grantaire, I was tidying up the clothes in the closet and these boxes fell, I was uncomfortable to touch the personal things that belong to Doctor Enjolras. Isn’t it better to see if something broke?”

“I will see what fell, Marie, and Enjolras will see the rest later.”

“I imagine it must be the things from London.”

Grantaire stared at the things laid out on the floor hesitantly. “Thank you, Marie”, once the maid had left, Grantaire started to collect the things, but his eye was caught by a picture of man inside a notebook. “To Enjolras, from your favorite singer. Regards, Feuilly. 1903?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do we have? Apparitions from both Musichetta and Cosette and mentions of Jehan and Feuilly. Talking of the latter, no, he's not a villain (I could never turn him into one), but he's definetely going to shake things up between Enjolras and Grantaire (please don't be mad). Don't forget to feedback if you feel like it, you would make this silly author very happy. See you!


	4. The indignation and the insinuation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, I know; it´s been one hell of a long time since I posted the last chapter, and I'm very sorry for it. So, as an apology, accept this humble chapter. I hope you enjoy it and don't hate me.

Grantaire descended the stairs exasperatedly, and told Marie to rearrange the boxes exactly as they were before. When the maid went upstairs, he turned to Cosette.

“Look at this, Cosette, look at this! Pictures of man, with dedicatories, all for Enjolras. One, two, three, many pictures, always the same man.”

“ They were in the boxes?”

“With the things from London! Didn’t I tell you he never talks about it? It’s because of him, it’s the only explanation!”

“It’s from a singer…”

“I saw the dedicatory; “for Enjolras, I miss you”.”

“Oh, R, but if he missed him, then it means he was away.”

“I don’t want to know the reason. I don’t want to know the reason, Cosette! Why did he do this to me? That’s what I want to know!”

“R, the theatre in this picture, it’s the Lyric Theatre, in the 42nd Street.”

“You’re right, I hadn’t noticed that.”

“”I wonder who must be this…

“Feuilly. I don’t know, Cosette, I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.”

**xxx**

“Grantaire isn’t coming down for dinner?” Enjolras asked Marie when he arrived home later.

“Mister Grantaire said he felt indisposed, but the table is made for you, sir.”

He nodded and said he wasn’t going to eat either, preferring to go upstairs and ask if his husband was feeling fine.

He knocked on the door, but Grantaire said it was better for him not to enter, as he was feeling indisposed.

“Not even to said goodnight?”, at the slightly supplicant tone of his husband’s voice, Grantaire reluctantly got up, putting away the book where he had put the picture of the English singer. “Is everything alright?”

Grantaire was silent for a few moments before responding, “No, Enjolras, nothing is alright.”

“Did something happen?”

“I just have a small headache, that’s all.”

“Are you sure? Or was there something else?”

“No, that’s all. Goodnight, Enjolras.”

The blond was taken aback with the cold tone in which his husband spoke, but bid his farewell and went to his room, without seeing the small tears Grantaire was fighting against.

**xxx**

The following day, Cosette accompanied Grantaire to the Lyric Theatre, where they found much more than they expected about the mysterious singer. When they arrived at his mother’s house, Cosette sat on his old bed as Grantaire paced the room drinking a glass of water.

“It seems as if everything is out of place today”, she said. “Did you notice weirdly your mother acted? She barely greeted you.”

“It’s better like this; I’m out of patience. Only came here because I didn’t want to go home; if Enjolras was there… I don’t even know”, he stopped pacing and got a worried look upon his face. “But I was worried about Éponine. It’s even worse because I have no ways of finding her.”

“You became friends with that woman?”, Cosette asked, incredulity seeping from her voice.

“Yes, I did, Cosette, why?”

“Nothing. R, Enjolras made a mistake, of course, but I could never imagine you would be like this. You weren’t excited about getting married”, he agreed. “If it was for you to choose, Enjolras would have stayed in London.”

“Many things happened since the wedding, Cosette. Enjolras has proved himself a wonderful friend. He doesn’t think my dreams are unreachable, my desires foolish; and that’s not little, Cosette. That’s why I can’t take this Feuilly.”

“Yes, but don’t you think it’s weird, to use the word friend to define your husband?”

Grantaire snorted. “No, that’s what every husband should be, a friend of who they married.”

“Yes, but you aren’t as unexcited about your marriage as before, are you?”

“No.”

“And from what I saw back in the theatre, wants more than just Enjolras friendship?”

Grantaire stared at his cousin, terribly flustered. “Cosette, what are you talking about?”

“R, your cousin might be foolish, but blind I am not.”

“No, you’re mixing things, ‘Sette. You don’t understand our friendship. If this happened…”

“What?”

“If we fell in love with each other… Oh my, it would ruin the friendship, everything. Now even more, with this Feuilly man. Imagine, if I fell in love with Enjolras I would be desperate”, Cosette smiled at her cousin knowly. “Only to think of them in London… I would go mad! I would be able to handle it! Imagine, falling in love with Enjolras now would be so stupid! We are friends, Cosette; or at least we were. And is as a friend that I feel betrayed, is as a friend that I’m angry, is as friend that I don’t even want to look at him!”

 


End file.
